Secret Revealed
by Zugzwang200
Summary: A play on the episode Lauren. What if Emily had another secret, an even bigger one, that she had been hiding and what happens when that secret is revealed?
1. Chapter 1

They sat in the waiting room silently, hoping and praying that their colleague and friend made it through the surgery. Derek couldn't get the image out of his mind; Emily, their Emily, lying on the ground with a wooden steak through her body. He knew that that was an image that would haunt him forever, whether Emily lived or not.

When they heard footsteps that all assumed that it was the surgeon coming to give them another update. Instead, there was an older woman standing next to a teenager who undeniably looked like their friend who was currently fighting for her life. The teenager was no older than sixteen but the sad and hopeless expression in his eyes made him look older. His brown eyes, identical to Emily's, were red rimmed and held unshed tears. The woman who was standing beside him whispered something in his ear, to which he nodded and walked towards a chair in the corner of the room where he sat down.

Everyone was stunned speechless. After a few moments Jennifer Jareau, JJ to her friends, stood up and spoke to the woman. While JJ was speaking to the woman, everyone else turned their attention to the teenager. There was no doubt in their minds that he was Emily's, even though his nose, mouth and jaw weren't hers. He took a book out of his backpack, The Narrative of John Smith by Arthur Conan Doyle, and quietly read. When JJ had finished talking to the woman she began to walk over to the teen but stopped when she was called by a man wearing blue scrubs, Emily's surgeon. She disappeared around the corner with the surgeon. No one really noticed that JJ had gone; all eyes on their friend's son that they never knew existed. Penelope took a deep breath, finally snapping out of the trance that the others were still in, and walked over to him. She watched him for another few seconds then sat down in the chair next to him. Another few minutes passed with Penelope trying to think of something to say.

"I'm Penelope, Penelope Garcia." She finally blurted out. The teenager looked up from his book and into her eyes, and if Penelope didn't know any better she would have thought that Emily was looking at her. "What's your name?"

She waited for him to respond and just as he opened his mouth to respond, JJ walked back around the corner with an expression that none of them had seen before. Immediately, Penelope felt an sob rack through her body. "She never made it off the table." JJ stated with tears in her eyes.

Penelope watched as Spencer stood up and began to walk away when JJ stopped him. All Penelope heard over her sobs was Spencer say, "I never got a chance to say goodbye" before JJ wrapped him in a tight hug. While watching the encounter, Penelope didn't notice that the teen had stood up and disappeared around the corner where JJ had just returned from. When Penelope noticed panic began to set in and mix with her grief.

Rossi noticed that Penelope was beginning to panic and immediately was out of his chair and walked to where he knew the boy would be. Of course, the legendary profiler was correct. He found the teen sitting outside of an OR that Emily's lifeless body was in, quietly sobbing with his head buried into his knees. Rossi sent a text message to Penelope and several seconds later, she and Derek were there. Penelope sat down next to the boy, like she had done only minutes earlier, but closer than before and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. It wasn't long after the others were there and watched as Penelope attempted to comfort the grieving teenager.


	2. Chapter 2

After several hours of crying on the plane ride back to Quantico, the teen fell asleep in Penelope's arms. Derek had carried the kid to one of the SUV's and, with Penelope, drove the kid to the apartment he had lived in with Emily, unbeknownst to any of them. Just as they pulled into the parking lot after the thirty minute drive, he began to stir. They watched as he walked up to the elevator almost as if he was on autopilot. When they arrived at the floor, he pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. He turned the alarm off and then walked up the stairs and disappeared. Penelope and Derek shared a look and shrug before following him.

What Penelope found almost broke her heart. He was lying in Emily's bed with his arms wrapped around her pillow, silently crying. Not knowing whether to comfort him or give him privacy, she looked to Derek questioningly. He shut the door to the bedroom and walked down stairs, giving Penelope an answer. Penelope followed Derek down the stairs but couldn't see him. She looked around for a few minutes before finding him in a bedroom that she had always thought was Emily's office.

The room was clearly for her son. The bed cover and pillows were black, which popped when compared to the cream walls. There was a huge bookshelf next to a desk. The bookshelf was full of books on all sorts of things. It seemed to be organised, with non-fiction books on the top six shelves and fiction on the bottom six and alphabetised by author. The desk was arranged neatly as well. A closed laptop sat in the middle, with a notebook on the right side and a photo frame with what looked like a recent picture of Emily and her son in it. She had no doubt that the draws were just as neat and tidy. Penelope noticed the end of a skateboard sticking out from under the bed. The whiteboard hanging on the back of one of the doors was filled with complicated equations.

Derek immediately noticed the picture of Emily and her son and picked it up. "Why didn't she tell us?" He rhetorically asked, never taking his eyes off of the picture. Emily looked so happy, so at peace and carefree that she could have been mistaken for another person. Penelope had to once again fight back tears as she looked at one of her best friend's faces, a face that she now would only see in photographs.

They stood in silence for ten long minutes until they heard movement coming from upstairs. Derek put the photo frame back where he had found it before he and Penelope walked back upstairs to investigate. When they found the location of the noise they opened the door, discovering that it was an office. They walked in and found Emily's son sitting on the floor with red rimmed eyes staring at an envelope. Penelope and Derek sat down on either side of the teen, seeing a name, probably the boy's written on it in Emily's all too familiar writing.

Derek watched as the boy, Ansel, struggled through an internal conflict with logic and emotion on whether or not to open the letter. Finally, emotion won and he carefully opened the letter. Derek felt wrong for reading but he wanted to know about the relationship Emily had with her son, the only child that she would ever have.

_Ansel,_

_You are my everything and I hope that you know that. I realise that things have never been easy for you, after all you are extraordinary, but I hope that you know how much I love you. If you are reading this letter, it means that things didn't go the way that I had wanted. I can only hope that I have been a better parent to you than my parents were to me and that I have taught you everything you need to know. You are truly amazing and always have been. Your patience, kindness and your moral compass are things that I had always wished that I had learnt myself. I know that you were hoping that I would tell you what career to go into once you had finished your degrees but the truth is that you will excel in any career that you choose. My only advice is to choose wisely. You don't want to be like me who has past mistakes coming back to bite me in the ass._

_I am begging you not to go down the road of despair that I did last year when your grandfather died. Even though I am not with you physically, I am still with you. I am so proud of you and everything you have accomplished. You are everything that I had wished you would be. You remind me of the person I once was, and that just makes me love you even more. I can only pray that I told you enough times that I love you but as I'm writing this I realise how ridiculous that sentence is. No parent can tell their child that they loved them enough. You are the best thing that ever happened to me and I never want you to think any different._

_Love always, Mom._

When he was finished reading Ansel leaned into Penelope and began to cry and sob. Derek felt tears in his eyes after reading the last words that Emily had ever written to her son. After an hour of heartbreaking sobs, Ansel had cried himself to sleep once again. Derek carried him into Emily's room and placed him on the bed, knowing that he needed to be surrounded by his mother's things. Derek then made his way downstairs to hear the sobbing of Penelope.


	3. Chapter 3

A few hours later, Penelope stood at Emily's bedroom door watching Ansel sleep. Derek had left a few hours ago with the promise to return later with food. She had filled in the time by researching their young friend, well trying to at least. Penelope could not find anything about him without running into a block from INTERPOL or the CIA. This, of course, only made her more curious but she understood that Emily had made her child a ghost for his own protection. Penelope shuddered to think what could have happened to the teen if Ian Doyle knew of his existence.

All Penelope really knew was that he had just lost his possibly only relative. From what Penelope could tell from a photo album she had found in Ansel's room, he wasn't close with his grandmother and had absolutely no pictures of his father. She then began to wonder about the teenager's father. _Were he and Emily married?_ She asked herself. _Was he even still alive?_ She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Derek and Spencer enter the apartment. She almost screamed when she turned around and saw them standing behind her but quickly got herself together and shut the bedroom door quietly. They made their way downstairs before anyone said anything.

"You guys almost gave me a heart attack." She stage whispered to them.

Derek and Spencer shared a look before Derek responded, "Sorry, but don't blame us for being lost in that pretty little head of yours."

Penelope noticed his playful smirk but he didn't have the same mischievous sparkle in his eyes. At this, Penelope's facial expressions softened. "I'm sorry. Now I feel bad."

Derek shook his head. "We'll forgive you if you tell us everything you've dug up on the kid."

They began eating the Chinese food that the guys had brought over, leaving a bit of everything for Ansel as they didn't know what he did and didn't like. Penelope told them about all the road blocks and how he was essentially a ghost. They all avoided the subject of Emily, as each was coping in their own way. "So what's going to happen to him?" Spencer asked during a somewhat awkward silence.

"I don't know." Penelope shook her head as she took her last bite. "I can't check if his has any family and I don't want him to go into the system where he'll be ignored."

"So what, we ask him some questions and see if he has any family?" Derek suggested. Penelope and Spencer shrugged their shoulders and sighed.

"Considering the circumstances, Ansel isn't going to want to leave. After all, this was the place that he lived with his now deceased mother. If it was me I wouldn't want to leave." Spencer blurted out.

Penelope nodded in agreement as she realised that Spencer was right. But Penelope didn't want to think about it right now. She figured she should get to know Ansel more but knew that if he was anything like Emily that it would be hard.


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours after Derek and Spencer left, Ansel woke up and made his way downstairs. He made his way into the kitchen; his tearstained face appeared lost in thought. He obviously didn't notice Penelope who was sitting on the couch typing away on her computer because he flinched when she spoke.

"There is food in the fridge for you." Penelope said. "We didn't know what you liked so we left a bit of everything."

He nodded in response and went to work at heating the food that he wanted to eat and getting two bottles of water out of the fridge. He walked over to Penelope with the bottles and his plate of food in his hand and sat down. He handed Penelope a bottle of water to which she smiled and thanked him. She noticed that for a millisecond that the corner of his mouth curve up into a smile but just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone. Penelope completely understood. He thought that it was wrong to be smiling after only a day and she knew exactly how that felt because she had felt the same way after her parents had died.

"It's okay to smile, you know." Penelope told him after he had taken a few bites. "You're not disrespecting her if you do."

She saw tears immediately spring to his eyes at the mention of his mother but she watched as they disappeared and he seemed to shield his emotions exactly as Emily did. She allowed him to eat in silence noticing that he was eating everything other that the seafood options. She made a mental note to use when she needed to and watched as he cleaned up after himself. When he sat down on the other couch, Penelope saw it as her opportunity to talk to him.

"I, ah hope you don't mind but I saw your room and it's really cool." Penelope said quietly, not knowing how he would react. When she saw a small smile appear on his lips she knew that she could keep going. "I saw that you like a lot of things; reading, science fiction, skateboarding and soccer. It's kind of an odd mix."

"Mom said that I was normal on the outside but a nerd on the inside like her." He said softly and Penelope's mouth almost dropped open from shock. She hadn't expected him to say anything because he had said a word to anyone. His voice was deep, calming and small, but not too deep, and seemed to fit him perfectly.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Some of us nerds just can't hide it." She said referring to herself as she gestured with her hands to her bright clothing. She took a deep breath in the silence, knowing that her next question could send their conversation downhill. "So, did your mom ever tell you what would happen if something happened to her?"

When Ansel shook his head no, she wasn't surprised. Most parents didn't tell their children that information. "She just told me not to worry about it and that I would be taken care of." He replied. He looked up at her and her breath hitched as he looked into her eyes as if he was reading her mind. "Do you know what's going to happen to me?"

Penelope couldn't find any words so she just shook her head no. "So, what do you do for the FBI?" He asked her equally curious and quiet. Penelope looked at him confused prompting him to clarify. "I don't mean to be rude or offensive but you don't look like an agent."

Penelope smiled and nodded in agreement and understanding. "That's because I'm not. I'm a technical analyst, the best there is. Just ask anyone at headquarters."

Ansel's eyebrow shot up and Penelope couldn't help but see the similarities between Emily and Ansel. "You're a computer hacker?"

Penelope laughed. "Yes, technical analyst is just a fancy term for legal computer hacker, although I used to do it not so legally." Ansel looked at his hands and Penelope noticed that he was picking his nails, just like Emily did. "You can tell me, I won't tell anyone."

Ansel looked into her eyes again and nodded giving himself permission. "I'm, ah, kind of a hacker as well." He admitted almost shamefully.

Penelope smirked at him. "Tell you what, you show me your system and I'll show you mine." She suggested.

Ansel smirked back at her before getting up and walking to his bedroom to collect his laptop.


	5. Chapter 5

**So this is my first author's note. I've ever done one so please be tolerant with me. I decided to skip the funeral, mainly because I didn't know what to write it because I have never attended one. Ziva Sofia mentioned the whole abortion thing in their review so I thought I would clarify on that situation. That still happened which is part of the reason for Rossi's curiosity in this chapter and according to the tombstone showed at the end of 'Lauren', Emily was forty when she "died", although for the sake of this story she actually did. According to my math, which should be extremely accurate considering I aced extension maths this year, she would have been twenty five when she had Ansel which, to my knowledge, doesn't really mess with the timeline shown in the show. Okay, that's it from me. I'm glad that readers are enjoying the story. If anyone has any more questions, PM me and I'll get back to you. Enjoy the next chapter!**

A few days later, after Emily's funeral and being given two weeks off by Section Chief Strauss, Rossi sent out a mass text inviting everyone to his mansion for dinner. Of course everyone accepted knowing that it was to try and cheer them all up a bit. But nobody knew Rossi's hidden motive; to get to know Ansel a little better. Penelope had told him, and the rest of the team, that there was no information available about him that she could get access to. This just made everyone even more curious that they already were about the teen. They didn't even know his actual age.

Rossi wasn't surprised when he heard knocking on his front door an hour before anyone was supposed to be there. He opened the door to find Penelope, dressed as colourfully as usual, with Ansel standing behind her. Rossi invited them inside and inspected Ansel carefully. His face had been a mask to hide his emotions, not giving away anything, but his eyes spoke volumes. His dark brown hair was combed neatly but was noticeably getting longer. His tall and skinny frame was dressed in a blue button down dress shirt and black jeans.

"Thank you for inviting me Agent Rossi." Ansel thanked softly once he was inside, again standing behind Penelope.

"Don't worry about it kid." Rossi answered before showing them to the kitchen where he then said, "And don't call me Agent Rossi, It's Dave to you, okay?"

"So, how can we be of service to you?" Penelope asked in her usual cheeriness.

Rossi thought for a moment. "You can start by washing your hands and putting on an apron." He responded before stirring the spaghetti that he had just begun boiling. They did as they were told and waited for Rossi's next instruction. "You can both chop these vegetables." He instructed as he gestured to the large group of vegetables on the bench top.

"Roughly chopped?" Ansel asked as Penelope handed him a large knife. Rossi only nodded in response.

As they were chopping and cooking, Rossi began asking Ansel a few general questions about himself; his favourite sports, colours and foods. He was surprised that the teenager actually answered his questions. Rossi learnt that Ansel played soccer and enjoyed skateboarding, his favourite colours were blue and black and his favourite type of food was Italian, much to Rossi's delight. He then began to ask slightly more personal questions, to which Penelope sent him a warning glare. Rossi asked him about the places he had lived, what languages he spoke and about his relationship with his grandmother. Ansel told them about living in London, Paris, Tuscany, Montreal and Berlin. They were surprised to hear that the teenager could not only speak Spanish but French, Italian, German, Russian, Arabic, Gaelic and Latin. Ansel then explained that his relationship with his grandmother was pretty much non-existent.

Before they knew it there was a knock on the door indicating that they others were beginning to arrive. Ansel decided to stay in the kitchen and keep an eye on the food whilst Penelope and Rossi went to greet the others. Ansel had always been shy and had relied on his mother to introduce him to people. As this crossed his mind he realised that he had to get over it but he couldn't help the wave of uneasiness that hit him at the thought of meeting new people. After all, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

He stayed in the kitchen another twenty minutes before Penelope called him out and Rossi resumed his place in the kitchen. He took a deep, calming breath and removed the apron he was wearing before he stepped outside to where almost everyone was sitting at a large, round table. Penelope stood next to him, noticing that he was nervous. "Ansel, this is Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau or JJ, Will LaMontagne and their son Henry and Spencer Reid." Penelope introduced.

Ansel was grateful that Penelope had introduced him rather than leave him to do it himself. He offered a small smile to everyone before Penelope told him to sit down next to JJ, telling him that she will protect him from Derek. Ansel did as he was told slightly uneasy about what Penelope had just told him.

"So kid," He heard Derek say and he took another deep, calming breath before he looked up at the man. "Do you play any sports?"

Ansel visibly relaxed as he nodded. "I play soccer at school and I skateboard to and from school when the weather permits." He answered quietly.

"JJ used to play soccer." Will said in his southern accent.

"Still do, when I have a decent opponent of course. Maybe we could go head-to-head sometime." JJ suggested with a smile and Ansel simply nodded in response.

"So what school do you go to?" Spencer asked curiously.

Ansel took a sip of water from his glass before answering. "Ah, I go to Central High School." The conversation then turned to Spencer, well Derek teasing Spencer about his lack of a love life.

"What about you Ansel, do you have any crushes?" Penelope asked cheekily, throwing Ansel to the wolves. Derek looked at Ansel with a teasing glint in his eye. Ansel just shook his head no. Derek watched him carefully trying to profile the teen but his face was just as passive as Emily's could be. It was a few moments later when Rossi came out carrying two dishes, closely followed by Hotch and Jack who were also carrying a dish each. He watched as they carefully put the dishes down and sat down. Penelope sat next to him, Ansel sat next to JJ, Henry was in between JJ and Will, Will next to Rossi, Rossi next to Hotch, Hotch next to Jack, Jack next to Spencer, Spencer next to Derek and Derek next to Penelope. He noticed how everyone seemed to be comfortable with the current seating arrangement and assumed that this was how they were usually seated, which meant that he was sitting in his mother's regular seat.

Penelope cleared her throat, drawing Ansel out of his thoughts. Ansel, this is Aaron Hotchner but we all call him Hotch and his son Jack." Ansel smiled awkwardly at them before looking down at his plate and waited for everyone to dish up before he did.


	6. Chapter 6

Ten minutes later, everyone was chatting and eating. However, everyone was dying to know more about Ansel and Derek knew it. "I think we should play a game." Derek suggested loudly in an attempt get everyone's attention, which he succeeded in getting.

"What kind of game?" Spencer asked sceptically.

"And is it appropriate for children?" Hotch added knowing that some of Derek's games shouldn't be played around children.

"Relax Hotch, children can play. As to what the game is, everyone wants to know more about Ansel," He began to explain. "So, we go around the table and everyone asks him a question but you only get one question." Everyone shrugged their shoulders and agreed, Jack and Henry happy to be included by the adults. Ansel suddenly became nervous, not liking the idea of being the centre of attention. "Baby Girl, why don't you start?"

"Okay, what is . . ." She started before taking a sip of her wine. "Your all-time favourite movie?" Penelope asked with a cheeky grin.

Ansel took a moment to decide. "My all-time favourite movie would have to be The Empire Strikes Back."

"JJ's turn," Penelope said happily.

"Hmm, where were you born?" JJ asked with an encouraging smile.

"I was born in Paris." Ansel then took a large gulp of his water.

"Henry's turn," Penelope butted in enjoying the game and eager to hear her godson's question.

"What is your fav-rite ice cream?" Henry asked loudly, clearly excited. Everyone at the table laughed at the two year olds question.

"My favourite ice cream is peanut butter." He replied with a small smile.

"Daddy's turn," Henry said happily then laughing at the fake outrage Penelope had on her face.

"What does your name mean? I've never heard it before." Will asked curiously, clearly putting a lot of thought into his only question.

"The French meaning is adherent of the nobleman, the Teutonic meaning is divine helmet and the German meaning is God's protection." He finished with a look on his face that told everyone at the table that he was imagining the moment.

"Where is your father?" Rossi jumped in and asked.

"London, I assume" Ansel answered without missing a beat, knowing that if they knew he was lying to them he could risk his father's safety. "He works for Interpol so I don't really talk to him much."

Rossi opened his mouth to say more but Hotch cleared his throat, telling Rossi to drop it. "What do you hope to do when you finish high school?"

"University and then, I don't know." He answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "It would depend on what offers I get but I was hoping to go into Law Enforcement."

"Maybe you should consider the FBI." Hotch finished, watching the young man curiously. He had seemed like he had begun to relax throughout the game and Hotch was happy to see it.

"My turn," Jack spoke up from beside Hotch. "Who is your favourite superhero?"

Ansel gave the boy a genuine smile and everyone noticed the dimples, which they assumed he inherited from his father. "From Marvel or DC?" Ansel asked back, showing his nerdier side.

"Both," Jack answered back, happy to know that this stranger knew what he was talking about when it came to superheros.

"The Flash for DC and Spiderman for Marvel." He answered with a shier smile that made him look younger.

Spencer cleared his throat, snapping out of his daze. He had been trying to think of a good question to ask but couldn't really come up with one. "Right, ah . . . what is your favourite book?"

Ansel took a moment to think about his response. He had read quite a few books. "To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger are definite standouts. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was also good but my absolute favourite would have to be Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut."

Spencer nodded at his answer. "I haven't heard of the Tess Gerritsen series." He stated, now intrigued at the possibility of a new series to read.

"It's a crime series. If you do decide to read them, the first book is the Apprentice. I found it a little confusing at first but it had a good plot so I didn't mind so much." Ansel replied trying to establish a conversation and momentarily forgetting about the game. "They adapted a television show from it."

"Hey, did you forget about me? I still get a question." Derek asked with mock offense in his voice.

"Nobody could forget about you my . . ."

"Keep it G, Garcia." Hotch quickly cut Penelope off. Everyone at the table erupted into laughter.

"What's your favourite genre of music and favourite band from that genre?" Derek asked hoping that the answer wouldn't be heavy metal.

"I don't really have a favourite but the genres I listed to the most are Alternative and Indie Rock. As for bands, it would be an even tie between The Killers and Tegan and Sara." He answered honestly.

"I've never heard of that last band." JJ said, slightly confused like everyone else at the table.

"They are a Canadian band. I heard about them when I was in Montreal a few years ago." Ansel answered. "You can borrow one of the CD's if you want."

"I might just have to take you up on that offer." JJ answered with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**I wasn't a big fan of the last chapter I just wanted a little bit of background information on Ansel. Please review, as I enjoy reading comments and constructive criticism. Enjoy the next chapter!**

Ansel wasn't surprised when he walked out of his room to see Penelope in what was now his kitchen making a sandwich. Penelope was Ansel's unofficial guardian until it became official, as she had filed papers for guardianship the previous day. Ansel was just about to sit down at one of the two chairs at the kitchen island when there was a knock on the door. He knew that he wasn't expecting anyone and Penelope would always ask him first. He was stunned when he looked through the peephole like his mom had taught him to do once he was tall enough to look through it. Once he heard knocking again, he knew the visitor was getting impatient. He opened the door to find none other than the elegantly dressed Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss.

Ansel remembered very little about his grandmother due to the fact that the last time that they had seen each other was when he was three years old. Emily had never been close with her mother and avoided her whenever possible. As a result of their strained relationship, Ansel spent very little time with his grandmother and knew even less about her. He couldn't help but feel a wave of anxiousness hit him when he made eye contact with her. She also had brown eyes and brown hair, both lighter than the dark hair and eyes that he had inherited from his mother. He didn't know what to say and was surprised when she pushed her way inside.

Ansel watched her walk into the apartment and lay eyes of Penelope, who by now was eating the sandwich she had finished making. Ambassador Prentiss didn't say anything; instead she turned around towards Ansel without acknowledging that Penelope was even there. "Let me take a look at you," She said to Ansel who was still slightly in shock. "Well, you're definitely taller but you are far too thin and your hair is atrociously messy."

Penelope listened to the Ambassador criticise Ansel and began to understand why he hadn't seen her in years. Emily had purposely kept him from her, not that Penelope blamed her if this is what the older woman was like every time Emily had visited. "What are you doing here?" Ansel asked hesitantly not wanting her to think that he was impolite and had no manners.

"I've come to help you pack." The Ambassador answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Penelope hadn't felt the need to butt into the conversation until now.

"I'm sorry, pack for what?" Penelope asked in the kindest voice she could muster.

Ambassador Prentiss turned away from her grandson and looked Penelope in the eye. Penelope knew that if she could shrink, she would have. She was kind of scared of this woman and couldn't help but wish for Emily at that moment. "He is starting boarding school in Sweden next week." She answered with a menacing tone that would normally make Penelope back down but not this time.

At hearing the news of what he saw as his 'impending doom', Ansel walked out the front door leaving the two women to argue amongst themselves. He knew he should just tell his grandmother that he didn't want to and be done with the issue but he knew that he didn't have the confidence to stand up to her. He continued to walk, lost in his thoughts and, when he finally snapped out of it forty minutes later, he wasn't surprised to find himself at the graveyard where they had buried his mother earlier that week. He continued walking until he found her tombstone and sat down at the bench that was conveniently located close by. He read the inscription on the tombstone:

Emily Prentiss

October 12, 1970 – March 1, 2011

Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity

He ran through the definitions of those words in his head; Fidelity- faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support, Bravery- courageous behaviour or character, Integrity- the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. He had seen these things in the people around him and couldn't help but wonder if he did as well. Recently, he had been questioning himself even more trying to determine whether or not he had lived up to other people's expectations, his mother's expectations. He took out the letter from her that he had memorised since finding it the day after her death and read it again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope that you are all having a wonderful day, just as I am. Enjoy the next chapter!**

Ansel decided to walk back, hoping that his grandmother would be gone by the time he got back. As he walked by a telephone booth he was suddenly struck with an idea. He walked in and took his phone out of his pocket noticing that he had thirty eight missed calls from Penelope and a few from the others. He unlocked it and scrolled down to the number that the CIA agent that had taken him to Boston had given him as a contact number for his father.

He inserted some change into the machine and dialled the number using the phone in the booth. He waited for it tho ring three times before hanging up, just as the agent had instructed him to do if he ever used the number. Seconds after he had hung up the phone began ringing and he hesitantly answered after two rings. "Who is this?" The familiar voice asked through the phone in French.

Ansel took a deep breath trying to even out his breathing as he and his father hadn't spoken since he was nine years old. "It's me, dad." He answered in French. He could hear his father stuttering to find something to say on the other end which only succeeded in making him increasingly nervous.

"Who gave this number?" He asked his tone much softer this time. It was that moment that Ansel knew his father had been told already.

"The CIA," Ansel responded quietly, suddenly feeling like he was being watched. He looked around but didn't see anyone which made him even more nervous. "So you heard?"

"Yeah, I did and I'm sorry that I can't be there." He answered genuinely. Ansel could tell he was telling the truth instead of just saying it to make him feel better.

"It's okay, I get it." Ansel replied, not wanting him to feel guilty. "How close are you to catching Doyle?"

"I think I'm making some progress. My handler knows everything. I'll get him to send you a report on our progress when I talk to him again." He replied, not wanting to give details over the phone. "I don't like the idea of getting you involved."

"I'm already involved dad," Ansel responded a little harshly. "Did you see what Doyle did to her?"

"How have you been, son? I haven't seen you since you were twelve." His father responded, wanting a quick chnge in subject. Ansel wanted to burst out laughing and curl up in a ball and cry at the same time as he heard his father say that.

"I was nine the last time you saw me." Ansel whispered back. He looked around again and held the phone a little tighter. "Look, I have to go dad but I hope we can talk again soon."

Ansel heard his father's loud sigh and waited for him to reply. "We won't be able to. This phone will be disabled in the next few hours. Life of a spy, huh?" He questioned.

Ansel found himself nodding in response even though his father couldn't see him. "Don't forget about that report. We both know I can get it myself if I need to." Take care of yourself then." Ansel replied before hanging up. Ansel looked around again before he walked out of the phone booth and back towards the apartment where he knew Penelope would be waiting to yell at him for almost giving her a heart attack.


	9. Chapter 9

When Ansel walked through the door of the apartment, he wasn't surprised to see a panicked and angry looking Penelope pacing in the kitchen with a nervous looking Derek and Spencer sitting in the two chairs at the bench. He was relieved to see that his grandmother had already left.

When Penelope laid eyes on the cause of her panic and frustration she couldn't help the fact that her heart melted at his tearstained face. "Where were you?" Penelope asked in a squeak, trying to control her own emotions.

Ansel knew that there really was no excuse for what he had done. He remembered that his mother had told him to always take responsibility for his mistakes and that more than applied in this case. "I'm sorry I left without telling you where I was going. It was reckless and dangerous and it won't happen again." He apologised before walking up the stairs and shutting the door to his mother's bedroom.

Derek and Spencer remained seated, speechless and completely clueless as to why the teenager had apologised so quickly. From Derek's personal experience, most teenagers attempted to pass the blame off to someone else rather than admit to the charges. Derek looked over at Spencer who was deep in thought, no doubt thinking about what they just witnessed. Not knowing Derek stood up and walked over to Penelope, who had walked over to the bottom of the stairs and was staring up at the top.

"I think we're going to go," Derek said, alerting Spencer to the fact that his ride was leaving. "If you need anything, I'm only a phone call away."

Penelope barely noticed that they had left until she heard the front door close. She then decided that she had to know what had brought out this behaviour in the usually rational, quiet teenager. She had spoken with Ambassador Prentiss after Ansel had left, assuming of course that he had just gone into his room with her noticing. Penelope had explained to her that she had applied for guardianship of Ansel and she was more than happy to take care of the teenager. She had reluctantly agreed, appearing quite surprised that the bubbly, colourful blonde was capable of being civilised. She walked up to Emily's bedroom door and lightly knocked.

"Ansel," She said waiting for an acknowledgment. She waited a few moments before continuing. "Knock twice if you're conscious."

She was relieved when she heard two loud knocks. She didn't know what to do next; after all she wasn't a parent herself. She then made the decision to go downstairs to where her phone was and text JJ for help. JJ replied almost instantly, instructing her to be firm but gentle and allow him to explain himself without any interruptions. Penelope walked back up the stairs and knocked on the door again.

"Ansel, I'm coming in okay?" She said before turning the knob and opening the door to find Ansel lying on his mother's bed with his arms wrapped around one of the pillows. This had become quite a common sight in the past week and Ansel had been sleeping in there since they had returned from Boston. Penelope sat down on the end of the bed and took a breath before continuing. "Can we talk, please?"

Ansel sat up but didn't let go of the pillow. It had been the first time Penelope had stepped into her friend's bedroom and was immediately hit with a scent that she only could describe as Emily. The room was simple and elegant, totally Emily's style. She looked at the few photos that sat in frames on the bedside table. One of Emily, probably in her twenties, holding a little baby that could only be Ansel. In another, Emily was standing next to young boy that had a mop of dark brown hair on his head at an airport. The last photo was what must have been a recent photo of Ansel, just with shorter looking hair, who had a large smile on his face as he looked out a car window. Penelope then looked up at Ansel and saw that he was looking at the pictures as well.

"I went to see her," Ansel said softly, in almost a whisper. "I got overwhelmed and scared so I went to a safe place. I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was going, or answer my phone when you called." He purposely left out the part about the phone call to his father, knowing that it would put him in danger even though he knew he could trust Penelope.

Penelope wrapped him in a hug and sighed. "Just tell me next time. I was about to send the FBI out to look for you." She whispered in his ear and she was relieved when he softly chuckled at the joke.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, Penelope and Ansel were sitting in the lounge room in their pyjamas silently. Penelope was typing away on her laptop whilst Ansel was rereading Independence Day by Richard Ford. They were in their own worlds until Penelope's phone brought them back to reality.

"The Oracle of Quantico speaking," She answered while putting it on speaker, knowing exactly who it was thanks to caller ID.

"Garcia, it's JJ," JJ's voice came through the phone. "What are you up to today?"

"Well my blonde, blue eyed fairy, Ansel and I were having a quiet day doing whatever we felt like. Why do you asked?" Penelope asked, suddenly interested in the possibility of actually doing something.

"I was planning to take Henry to the park while Will's at work and of course Henry wanted Jack to go as well and Hotch suggested that everyone go so . . ." JJ knew she didn't need to complete the sentence.

"What do you think Ansel?" Penelope asked cheerily.

Ansel just looked up from his book and shrugged his shoulders in response. Penelope knew that he was having a bad day and didn't want to add to that but he desperately needed cheering up.

"Text me the dets, Garcia out." Penelope ended the call and looked at Ansel carefully. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I'll go get dressed." He answered as he got up and went into his room.

A few hours later, they found themselves at a park close to where JJ lived with the rest of the team. Henry and Jack were playing happily together on the playground whilst the team were sitting around one of the picnic tables having numerous conversations at once as Hotch and JJ kept a close eye on their child. Ansel sat on a park bench watching them. He didn't know where or even if he fit in with the group of people his mother had considered family. He was suddenly sadded by the realisation that his mother wasn't coming back. He had carried her coffin and sat through her entire funeral by himself, not feeling that it would be appropriate to sit with the people his mother had kept him a secret from.

He took out his phone and opened up his photos. He flicked through until he found the most recent on that he and his mom had taken the day before she left for Boston. They were both smiling at the camera, sat in the restaurant that they had decided to have lunch at that day. Ansel wiped a stray tear off of his face and put his phone away as JJ walked over and sat next to him.

"How are you doing Ansel?" JJ asked sympathetically.

Ansel nodded his head. "I'm okay," He whispered in response, knowing that it was a complete lie.

JJ saw the look in his eyes and knew that his response was a complete lie but she understood. "How are you really doing?"

"It's hard," Ansel admitted as he began to pick at his nails like Emily had done. "I miss her. We . . . ah, we used to go to the park a lot. We would go at night and just stare at the stars."

JJ watched as a small, thoughtful smile appeared on his face at the memory. "It sounds nice," JJ responded. "Did you do stuff like that a lot."

Ansel nodded. "We always did something when she wasn't working. My favourite thing was going to the museum with her. She liked it when I would tell her facts and information about the exhibits that weren't written in the description." JJ couldn't help but notice the sparkle in his eye that appeared when he started talking about it.

"Maybe we could do something together sometime." JJ suggested with an encouraging smile.

Ansel shook his head, feeling a little better. "You don't have to. I don't really fit in anyway."

"What do you mean?" JJ asked wanting to know what the teenager thought.

"I don't . . . fit in. I don't feel like I belong . . . anywhere." He clarified as more tears began to fill his eyes. My mom's dead, my dad had to go away and my grandmother who hasn't seen me since I was three years old enrolled me into a boarding school as soon as she heard that her daughter had died."

JJ couldn't help but felt bad for him. She watched as he wiped at his eyes and began to apologise. JJ had noticed that he was the exact opposite of Emily when it came to emotions. He wasn't afraid that if he showed them then he would be considered weak, the exact thing Emily had once told JJ that she would teach any child she had. "Just because you don't feel like you belong anywhere doesn't mean that you don't. I didn't feel like I belonged when I first got here." JJ began to explain knowing that each member of the team had gone through it as well. "I felt . . . completely alone and then Gideon, one of our old bosses, got Spencer to ask me out because Spence had a little crush on me and I had a great time. That was the exact moment that I realised that I did belong here. You do belong here Ansel and I'm glad that you're here."

"Really?" Ansel questioned in a somewhat hoarse whisper.

"Really," JJ answered. "Now, I believe I was promised a game of soccer the other night.

Ansel nodded and walked back to the small group, happy that even if the others didn't feel the same way as JJ at least one of them felt that he belonged there.


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, so this is where things start to get a bit more serious. I wanted to establish my OC's personality, which I can only hope that I have done, before I got into the story a bit more.**

A few weeks had passed and Ansel hadn't heard anything from his father. He had hacked into the CIA database a few times trying to find information but was always disappointed when he saw that there was nothing new in the files. He had recently started locking himself in his room to try and find information on Doyle and Penelope had begun to notice. She had officially moved into the spare bedroom the week before and was starting to take notice of regular and irregular behaviour that Ansel displayed. He was introverted and avoided socialisation when possible. He was the definition of loner but he never spent as much time in his room as he had in the past week.

This worried Penelope, who automatically began thinking the worst. She had spoken to JJ and even Hotch to ask if this was typical behaviour, even though none of them had teenagers. JJ had told Penelope to let him know that if he wanted to talk that she was there to listen. Hotch had told her that everyone dealt with grief differently and to give him time to think things through. Penelope just hoped that she wasn't the reason that Ansel had become the closed off.

Ansel sat on his bed watching his laptop screen and waiting for something to happen. He knew that hacking into government agencies databases wasn't going to help him. Normally when he was in this kind of situation he would go straight to the source but the source was deceased. So he decided to do the next best thing, search for evidence and he figured that the best place to look was in his mother's office.

When he walked in he noticed that it was exactly the way it always was, minus the open safe that Emily had left open in her rush to get to Boston. He set out to work looking through paperwork on her desk and then went through the paperwork in her draws. After an hour of searching he found an invoice addressed to his mother from a private school in the area hidden in a secret compartment in her desk. He decided that this was the break he was looking for and quickly went back downstairs to his laptop, completely ignoring the fact that Penelope was watching him run back to his bedroom curiously. She decided not to say anything and continue typing her report that was due the following day.

Ansel hacked into the school database and looked for any connection to his mother. He was surprised to find that she had been paying for the tuition of a twelve year old by the name of Declan Cooly. Ansel wasn't surprised to find that the boy looked exactly like the picture his mother had shown him of Declan Doyle. What he was surprised about was the fact that she had hidden him in plain sight and nobody, not the BAU, CIA, or Interpol, but him had seemed to figure it out. He knew that this was his leverage to be included in the case, even if he was fifteen.

Ian Doyle was still at large six weeks after he had killed a federal agent and numerous others. Ansel didn't feel like anyone was doing anything about it and hacking into federal databases for information wouldn't help further the investigation. So it was then that he decided that he would investigate on his own and find Doyle without the help of anyone else, and the included the BAU.


	12. Chapter 12

Ansel wasn't surprised a few days later when he was pulled out of school by the CIA agent that had taken him to Boston, Agent Carter. He had called the agent numerous times of the past couple of weeks but never actually spoke to her as she never answered. So to get her attention he had hacked into the CIA database again but this time made it easy for it to be traced back to him, knowing that they would be more than hesitant to arrest him for the crime even if he was guilty. When he saw her standing in the hallway he knew he had struck a nerve by the frustrated look on her face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She asked him quietly when he was close enough so that people passing by didn't hear what they were talking about. "Do you know how many strings I had to pull so that you didn't get arrested for a felony?"

Ansel rolled his eyes at this statement. She was trying to make it seem like she had done him a favour to get rid of him. He didn't have time to listen to her babble on about how much trouble he would have been in and decided to cut to the chase. "I want in."

She suddenly looked confused and even more frustrated by his statement. She knew that he wouldn't be demanding in on the manhunt for Doyle unless he had information to bring to the table. "What have you found out?" She asked in a softer, manipulative voice.

Ansel knew that as soon as the words were out of her mouth. He wasn't about to give up information without insurance and the agent was arrogant to think otherwise. Ansel smirked at her, "Nothing that you will ever find out because I've buried the evidence deep enough that nobody but me will know where it is."

The look on the woman's face immediately change from interested back to frustrated and Ansel knew that he was starting to get on her last nerve. "Listen to me," She said in a low threatening voice. "You are interfering with a federal case and that could have serious ramifications on your future so I suggest you forget whatever it is that you know." She then began to walk away.

Ansel's smirk only grew wider. "I guess you don't want to know the location of Declan Doyle." He said loudly and the agent immediately stopped in her tracks. She came walking back pretty fast and Ansel knew that he had her.

"Where is he then?" The agent asked angrily. She hated that this teenager had figured it out before the CIA and Interpol even knew where to begin looking. She had expected him to tell her something that they already knew and just be done with him but this was a wild card that was above her pay grade.

"He's safe, I assure you. Somewhere Doyle can't get to him." He answered. "Now, I suggest you get your supervisor on the phone and that he contacts whoever is needed to get me into this investigation."

He had her and she knew it. She took out her phone and called her supervisor who was happy to say the least. He agreed to meet with Ansel after school and explain everything to him. At hearing this, Ansel was more than proud of himself. He didn't want revenge or even to capture Doyle, all he wanted to know was why he had done it. Why an international weapons dealer cared so much about his mother and he was going to get what he wanted one way or another.


	13. Chapter 13

Ansel was slightly relieved when Penelope texted an hour later to inform him that the team had gotten a case and that she would be home late. He knew that his 'meeting' wouldn't take him too long to the point where he wasn't home by the time Penelope would be. He walked out of the school and was surprised when two men in black suits walked up to him and took him to a black SUV with tinted windows and government plates. It was a little cliché but Ansel didn't mind.

The drive was about forty minutes and Ansel knew that they were heading to DC. He kept his gaze focused on the window, slightly scared of the two agents. No one said a word and it only added to the air of mystery. When they arrived at their destination, Ansel followed the two agents until they were on the fifth floor of what was obviously a branch in the CIA. The agents led him to a conference room and told him to take a seat at the table. Not wanting to test the men's patience, he did as he was instructed. He waited patiently for five minutes until an older man in a suit walked in closely followed by Agent Carter.

He could see the looked of anger and envy she had in her eyes but he had come to expect it. He had played the politics game in order to get where he was now and he knew that if his mother was alive she wouldn't have liked it. Like his mother, he didn't like politics but was a good player when it was necessary. They took a seat across from him with one seat in between them. The man, who Ansel assumed was Agent Carter's supervisor, had an unreadable expression. They sat in silence for several minutes watching each other before the man spoke. "Mr Prentiss, I am Agent Harrington. I understand that you are in possession of some sensitive information relating to the case of Ian Doyle?"

Ansel almost laughed at the question. This Agent Harrington knew for a fact that he had sensitive yet vital information. Ansel knew better than to play into their tricks having learnt them at a young age. He wasn't just going to hand over the information, in fact he didn't plan on giving it to them at all. He knew that they would use Declan as bait to draw Doyle out and he wouldn't put the boy his mother had died protecting in any danger. He was safer where he was.

"Let's cut the crap Agent Harrington," Ansel replied, slightly annoyed that the man had even tried that trick on him. "I will not be handing over this information to you or to anyone for that matter. Declan is safe where he is, that I can assure you of. We're here to discuss my involvement in this case."

Harrington eyed Ansel and knew that he was serious. Harrington had never heard of a fifteen year old trying to inject themselves in an investigation but expected nothing less of Emily Prentiss' child. "I didn't realise that you were involved." He said, deciding that playing dumb could be their best option.

Ansel actually did laugh this time. "I became involved the minute Ian Doyle murdered my mother." Ansel said his face suddenly a mask over his emotions. It was then that Harrington had no doubt that this was Emily's son. "Are you going to include me or not?"

Harrington gave a long, drawn out sigh before handing over the file he had walked in with. "Your mother was part of a team assembled by Interpol. The team, codenamed JTF-12, profiled and helped to apprehend terrorists. Their final case was to profile a terrorist known as Valhalla. Your mother was sent undercover as Lauren Reynolds and she managed to successfully infiltrate Doyle's organization. He was soon arrested and sent to a North Korean prison. Doyle figured out that it was your mother who had betrayed him but we took care of the by staging a car accident in which Lauren Reynolds died and you were erased from any database that you were in." He explained as Ansel began scanning the file, planning on reading the entire file thoroughly during the ride home.

"The Koreans weren't getting anywhere with Doyle so they reached out. Emily staged Declan Doyle's death and hid him without telling anyone. No one, until know, knew where he was other than her. When Doyle escaped and found your mother, alive and well, and decided to get revenge. Every member of JTF-12 has been eliminated by Doyle except Clyde Easter, who is now in protective custody. The BAU now have a copy of JTF-12's profile of Doyle." Agent Carter finished.

Ansel nodded at them when they were finished, now understanding why he was sent to live with his father for a while when he was nine. "And what does my father have to do with any of this?" Ansel asked. He hadn't seen any mention of his father in his brief scan of the file. Carter and Harrington shared a look between the two before agreeing that they had to give Ansel all of the facts if he was going to be any help.

"Agent Porter went rogue when he heard of Doyle's escape. He has made minimal contact with us however he has made some progress on the matter of Doyle's whereabouts. Unfortunately, he was found dead in a warehouse in Ireland yesterday." Carter explained with no emotion in her voice.


	14. Chapter 14

Ansel immediately looked up at the woman and saw nothing but truth in her eyes. He wasn't close with his father but he did care what happened to him. Carter slid a photo across the table and Ansel took a quick glance at it before looking up, sick to his stomach at seeing the image of his father completely covered in blood. He had a large gash in his abdomen that was deep enough for organs to be visible and his head cut clean off of his body. Ansel knew that this was Agent Carter's revenge but he knew he could take it. "Was the . . . ah, gash the cause of death" He asked, trying to keep the vomit that was rising in his throat down while a tear slipped down his cheek.

"According to the coroner's report, he was alive at the time of decapitation." Harrington replied, his voice thick with sympathy for the fifteen year old as he handed over the report.

Now he really did feel alone, first his mother and now his father. He couldn't help but wonder who Doyle would take from him next. He cleared his throat and ignored the image, placing his emotionless mask back into place as he skimmed through the report. He didn't want to give Agent Carter anymore more satisfaction than she had already gotten. "The gash and other injuries suggest torture; he would have died from blood loss soon enough which means that the decapitation was overkill." He whispered to himself but loud enough that Carter and Harrington had heard him. They were impressed that the teenager had just commented exactly what was in the partial profile that they had constructed around this murder. "If it was Doyle, it's likely someone working for him though." Ansel concluded out loud.

Harrington looked at Carter with a look that clearly said 'I told you so' before turning his attention back to Ansel and taking out a recording device before turning it on. "That's what we suspected. Now let's discuss the terms of your consultancy." He said, his voice displaying nothing but authority. "You will have full access to all information concerning this case, they will be sent to you via email. You are not to hack into any CIA database or next time you will be charged. You will meet with us every week, Friday afternoon to be exact, to share any and all information that you discover during your investigation. We would also like for you to work on a profile for this employee of Doyle's. It may help in capturing Doyle."

Ansel nodded at the man before speaking again, slightly intrigued by the terms. "Okay, but I have a few conditions of my own," He looked Agent Carter in the eyes briefly before continuing. "I will not give any information to the CIA or anyone else regarding the location of Declan Doyle, no one in the BAU are to be told that I am involved in this case unless I decide otherwise and I get driven from school to here and from here to home."

Harrington nodded at the fifteen year old. "You have yourself a deal Mr Prentiss. We shall see you again next Friday." He stated before switching the recorder off and leaving the room. Carter waited a few minutes, staring at Ansel with a look that most people would shrink at, before following Harrington out. The two agents who had picked him up came into the room and ushered him out of the door. He was going to take Doyle down if it was the last thing he did.


	15. Chapter 15

When Ansel arrived home to an empty apartment, he saw it as his opportunity to read the rest of the information in the bulky file that Harrington had given him. He would have finished reading if the agent that was driving followed the traffic laws that apparently didn't apply to him. He had wanted to break down when he heard the news about his father's death, after all he had just lost his mother seven week prior, but he decided that his energy would be better spent attempting to catch the man who had done it. As Ansel had read through most of the file on JTF-12, it became more and more clear that it wasn't Doyle who had done it. According to JTF-12's profile, Doyle meticulously planned everything and conducted his crimes with surgical like precision. His father's murder was sloppy and clearly unplanned. Besides, Doyle wouldn't have gone overboard because his father didn't know anything about Declan's whereabouts. So that only begged the question, who had done it.

A half hour later when he was finished reading, he hid the file in the back of his bookshelf and logged into his laptop. He then hacked into Interpol's database, technically not breaking Harrington's conditions because it wasn't the CIA's database, and searched for anyone with a connection to his father. There were very few names mentioned in reports so he looked at enemies of his father and the list of names that he was keeping got much longer. After writing the list out he looked each name up and the majority of names on the list were people that his father had betrayed or put away in prison.

He eliminated some who were still serving time in prison and others who were deceased or missing and ended up with a manageable amount of possible suspects. The list was further narrowed down when Ansel factored in that his father had been killed in Ireland and found only one name that matched all of his search parameters. He then spent the next hour gaining any information about this suspect and then spent another two hours creating a program that could contain all of the information that Harrington had sent through on the case. He decided that he would gather more evidence during the week and present the suspect to Harrington during their next meeting.

By the time he was finished, it was ten o'clock and Penelope could be heard jiggling her keys in the front door. Ansel shut down his laptop and changed into his pyjamas and brushing his teeth .When he walked out of his room he didn't expect to find Penelope already fast asleep on the couch. He went to the linen closet to grab a blanket and placed it over her. He watched as she snuggled into the back of the couch with a smile. To him, people looked much more at ease when they were asleep.

He went to the front door and locked it. Just as he was turning around to turn all of the lights in the apartment off, he saw a large, yellow enveloped that was ripped open sitting on the table by the door underneath Penelope's handbag. He stood there for a few moments debating whether he should look at it or not. His curiosity finally won and he quietly took out the surprisingly small stack of papers. He skimmed through it, not wanting to read to in depth in case it was more bad news.

A megawatt smile spread across his face as he saw the words "guardianship approved". He was glad that it would Penelope taking care of him rather than a complete stranger who would only want him to talk about everything he'd been through or totally ignore him. _Maybe things aren't going to be so bad_, he thought as he placed it back as he had found it before proceeding to turn the lights off and go to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Ansel walked into the CIA building with his, what he assumed was, regular escort. This was his fourth meeting with Harrington and Carter and he was getting frustrated with the lack of progress. He considered himself quite patient but this arrangement was proving to bring out the more impatient side of him. They hadn't heard any news on Doyle since he left Boston and nobody even knew if he was still in the country. For this reason, the CIA had enlisted Interpol to help and told them to be on alert.

Carter was taking everything that Ansel said or did personally which only added to his frustration. All evidence he presented was shot down by Carter before being reconsidered by Harrington. This was the case during their second meeting when he presented a viable suspect for his father's murder. Carter had shot the idea down, stating that it couldn't be a coincidence that both of his parents had been murdered within weeks of each other. This had gotten to Ansel but he refused to let emotions show when it came to Carter. Harrington agreed with Ansel, much to Carter's disbelief, and alerted Irish authorities. They caught the suspenct, Scott Macalister, within three days and he promptly confessed to the murder to avoid the death penalty.

Ansel waited for Carter and Harrington in silence, not particularly looking forward to seeing Carter again. It was ten minutes later when they walked into the conference room followed by a middle aged man dressed casually. Ansel hadn't seen him before and assumed that he was an Interpol agent. Little did he know, he was right.

"Mr Prentiss, nice to see you again," Carter greeted sarcastically. Ansel rolled his eyes and refrained from sighing.

"You can skip the pleasantries Agent Carter," Ansel replied in a non-amused tone. "You don't want me here, I don't want you here." He was sick of dancing around the issue. He was ready to get down to business and catch Doyle.

The middle aged man gave a deep laugh. "You are definitely your mother's child." He stated in a British accent.

Ansel's breath caught in his throat at this man talking about his mother. A small smirk graced Agent Carter's lips at the look of longing and anger that could be seen in his eyes, as his face had it's usual emotionless mask on. "Who the hell are you?" Ansel asked as he stood up, ready to pounce over the table.

Harrington knew that it was time to step in. "Mr Prentiss, this is Clyde Easter. He worked with your mother on JTF-12." He introduced.

The British man, Clyde Easter, held his hand out across the table for Ansel to shake. When he didn't get a response, rather a blank stare, he retracted his hand and put both into his pockets. Ansel sat back down and watched the man carefully. He was relaxed; a little too relaxed for Ansel's liking.

Harrington, who was sensing the thick tension, cleared his throat and decided to begin the weekly debriefing. "Shall we get started?"

"What is he doing here? You said he was in protective custody." Ansel immediately asked not even a breath after Harrington began. He wanted the answers that he was entitled to.

"Agent Easter is here to assist on this case, just as you are." Carter hissed at him, trying to display dominance. "Maybe he get the location of the little brat out of you."

Ansel almost fell off of his chair in a fit of laughter. _Who the hell does this woman think she is?_ Ansel asked himself. He simply smirked back at her. Ever since meeting the rude and impulsive agent he had been doing some digging on her and boy did he find the buried treasure. "Shut up!" Ansel yelled at her. The three agent's eyebrows were all raised in surprise. Ansel profiled as a quiet introvert, rarely displaying anger or violence.

Agent Carter breathed out an amused breath. "Listen to me you little . . ." She began before being cut off by Ansel.

"No bitch, you listen to me. I have put up with your crap for weeks now and I'm sick of it. I don't know what is stuck up your ass but I suggest you keep your mouth shut from now on unless you have something productive to add to the conversation. Not unless you want every agent in not only the CIA but every intelligence agency in the world. Do you understand?" Ansel told her in a low, threatening voice.

Easter was more than impressed. He had to give it to the kid, he came prepared for a fight. Agent Carter's face turned red with anger and embarrassment. She steadied her breathing before she would say something that she would regret. She simply nodded in response and remained quiet for the remainder of the briefing.


	17. Chapter 17

**As of twenty minutes ago I finished writing this story and will be posting a couple of times a day. So expect frequent updates.**

As weeks went on, Penelope was becoming increasingly intrigued and worried about Ansel's behaviour. She was not a profiler, as she liked to point out, but she could tell that he was distancing himself and being sucked into the same isolated black hole that Emily had been shortly before she died. But what worried her most was the amount of time he spent locked in his room. Aside from school and afterschool practice, he was always in his room doing God knows what. So while he was at school she deciding that ot couldn't hurt to take a look around in his room.

She began with the one thing a hacker valued most, his laptop. However, when she attempted to get into his system she almost erased the entire hard drive. She decided to leave it alone for now and look around his desk. It was covered in already completed assignments that looked like they were due in two to three weeks. She searched his desk draws, finding nothing but stationary and a few text books, and then his bookshelf. Half an hour later, she was finished her searched and had discovered nothing. She would have to get the answers the old fashioned way, asking.

So she waited the extra twenty minutes before he got home from afterschool soccer practice. He barely greeted her before walking into his room and closing the door. Penelope mouth dropped in shock. "Not this time," She whispered with silent rage. She walked over to his bedroom and threw the door open to find the teenager packing away his belongings. "This is getting ridiculous." She stated as she walked in and took a seat on the end of his queen sized bed.

Ansel turned around from packing his equipment away to face her. "What is getting ridiculous?" He asked in a soft voice.

Penelope's resolve was reduced immediately to almost nothing. _He was so . . . _she couldn't think of a word. She couldn't figure out how he could make her feel so angry at him and then make her feel guilty for being angry with him. "Um, well . . . you, ah, you've been spending a lot of time in here over the past few weeks and I'm just worried that your keeping something from me." Penelope replied, failing miserably at keeping the guilt out of her voice. _How did Emily deal with this? _She began wondering.

Penelope's words felt like a stab to the heart for Ansel. He had been keeping things from her, big things that could alter not only his life but hers. _But it's for her own good. You want her to be safe_, he reasoned with himself. He had been having this same internal battle since he had begun consulting with the CIA. He knew that she cared and was worried about him and, if he was honest with himself, he had been acting this way on purpose. He had hoped that by the time she had gained the courage to ask him that he had the courage to give her a truthful answer, the one she was entitled to. He took a deep breath, _It's now or never._ "If, ah . . . if I tell you something, a secret, you have to . . . and I mean have to keep it between us. You can't tell anyone, not Dave, not JJ, not Morgan, not anyone. Can you please promise me that?"

Penelope knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth that what he was about to tell her was serious. "I . . . I, yes, I promise. It won't leave this room; it's completely off the record." She agreed wholeheartedly.

Ansel nodded and explained the events that had transpired over the past few weeks. Penelope listened carefully to what he was telling and refrained from interrupting him. When he stopped talking, Penelope knew he was waiting for her to bombard him with questions.

"This has been going on for a few weeks?" Ansel nodded at her, shame written all over his face. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you and I wanted to keep you safe. At the time I thought that Doyle had gotten top my father but then I provided evidence that suggested differently and the murderer was arrested. I just didn't want you in any danger." He rambled before he was engulfed in a tight bear hug by Penelope.

"No more secrets, okay?" She said softly in his ear. He nodded in agreement and was relieved that she wasn't mad at him for keeping something so important from her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

The next meeting he attended with Harrington and Carter he made sure that Penelope was there. Carter's mood visibly changed when she walked into the conference room and sitting beside Ansel was Penelope, dressed in her usual colourful clothing. Instead of being her regular, aggressive self she slumped her shoulders back to make herself appear relaxed and in control. Ansel knew that she wouldn't run her mouth with Penelope there, especially after he threatened her during their last briefing. "I'm Agent Carter, and you are?" She asked with a fake smile. Ansel couldn't keep the smirk off of his face.

"Penelope Garcia . . ." Penelope began while holding out her hand for the agent to shake before being cut off by Carter.

"Why are you here Ms. Garcia?" She asked, with a business tone.

The kind smile on Penelope's face slowly disappeared and she soon realised that what Ansel had told her about this particular agent wasn't far from the truth at all. She was overly aggressive and protective and Penelope didn't like it. Just as Penelope was going to answer, Harrington walked in closely followed Clyde Easter. Penelope audibly gasped at the sight of the British man that was supposed to be in protective custody.

"I didn't know that you had told anyone about this arrangement," Harrington stated as he took a seat next to Carter. Clyde decided to remain standing but casually leaning against the wall.

"Well you brought someone in so I brought someone is. That's not a problem, is it?" Ansel asked sarcastically, knowing that Harrington answered negatively that he would basically be announcing that he was a hypocrite.

"Not at all, now let's begin," Harrington ordered. The way these briefing were held was that they share their information first which was never more than a few notes, and then Ansel was revealed what he had learnt. Now that Ansel was working with Penelope, they had gained twice as much information.

Clyde revealed that British SIS had gotten to some of Doyle's men and were interrogating then as they spoke. Ansel was confused for a moment before he pieced it together. "It was a distraction," Ansel stated. "Doyle ordered them out to draw attention off of himself. It supports evidence that we found."

"And what would that be?" Carter jumped in with a disgusted edge to her voice.

Ansel rolled his eyes at her before Penelope replied. "Someone used one of the fake passports that were logged into evidence from the forger crime scene where Tsia Mosely was found dead."

Clyde lifted his head slightly at the words 'logged evidence'. "So you think that Doyle had an inside man, someone who stole the fake ID?" He asked curiosity present in his voice.

Penelope nodded, allowing Ansel to respond. "Yes, he couldn't just walk into a police department and take it himself. We think it's possible that he used former IRA and made it look like he left the country."

"We are runningbackground searches on everyone who had access to the evidence and having Boston PD check for any other missing ID's that were logged in evidence. We are also tracking the passport that Doyle is using. If you would be so kind as to alert international agencies to look out for this name," She handed Harrington a folder containing the information regarding the stolen ID. "Then we should be able to trap whomever is using the ID."

"We believe that Doyle is in the US." Ansel quickly added.

Carter scoffed whereas Harrington raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think that?" Harrington asked.

"According to the profile, Doyle was hell bent on revenge for the death of his son. He escaped a Korean prison that is completely off of the grid, he murder countless amounts of people including five federal agents in different continents and committed dozens of other crimes." Ansel explained. "Now that he knows his son is alive, he is going to be just as ruthless and persistent as before."

Clyde nodded his head at Ansel's analysis of the situation and profile. To say he was impressed would be putting it mildly. "His right, Doyle will stop at nothing to get to Declan just as he would stop at nothing to get revenge."

"What makes you think that Doyle knows that his son is alive?" Carter asked hurriedly, trying to support her theory from weeks ago that Doyle had fled the country.

"Doyle knows because my mother would have told him." Ansel simply stated, not willing to drag it out any further. Penelope felt a pang of grief at the mention of Emily. It still saddened her deeply to think about the whole situation.

"So he could know where he is," Carter argued. "If your mother told him that his son is alive she could have told him where Declan is."

"No, she wouldn't have." Ansel quickly countered. "She risked and gave up her life to protect that boy. She didn't tell Doyle anything."

Clyde pushed himself off of the wall, in complete agreement with Ansel. "He is again correct, Agent Carter. Emily didn't give Doyle anything. Otherwise, you would have a missing boy matching Declan's description and Doyle wouldn't have arranged these little shows to make it appear as if he was gone because he would be."

Penelope was liking Agent Carter less and Clyde Easter more. He seemed more reasonable when he wasn't trying to board an aeroplane with a suitcase full of money.


	19. Chapter 19

A week passed and they had turned up little evidence on Doyle's whereabouts. As a result of evidence that Ansel and Penelope handed over to the CIA, several individuals were arrested in connection to Doyle. Ansel had divulged Declan's location to Penelope and told her that she was not to tell anyone unless he said otherwise. Penelope didn't hesitate in agreeing to his terms. She knew that he only wanted to protect Declan, just as his mother had.

Penelope could see many similarities between her fallen friend and her teenage son. They were both fiercely loyal and had a strong moral compass. They were both kind and had a good sense of humour that was rarely shown. Ansel was almost exactly like Emily, apart from a few differences, and Penelope couldn't help but love him for it. She hadn't met his father ad never would because he was dead, but she figured that they wouldn't have been similar. There were moments when Penelope saw glimpses of features other than Emily's in Ansel and she could only assume that it was his father.

Ansel was beginning to get frustrated by the lack of evidence that they had recovered. He knew that there had to be something that pointed to where Doyle might be. He took a deep breath and stopped pacing the lounge room, taking a seat on the couch opposite where Penelope sat. He thought about everything that he had read in the files that the CIA had given him from Interpol and their own databases. Then it hit him, they weren't the only ones that had worked Doyle's case. "Can you get the BAU files on Doyle's case?" Ansel's voice projected into the silence of the apartment.

Penelope looked at him puzzled. "Of course I can, why?" She asked.

Ansel picked up on her confusion and knew he would have to explain. "The BAU worked Doyle's case. We have records and files from the CIA and Interpol but not from the BAU. It's the missing piece. We didn't factor in the BAU's profile. Doyle isn't just a terrorist anymore, he's a serial killer. In order to find the location in which Doyle had taken my mother, the BAU had to combine their profile with JTF-12's. It's exactly what we have to do."

Penelope nodded at the teenager's logic and set about gathering the files, opting to hack the FBI's system rather than log in and leave evidence that she had copied the files. She printed everything out and handed it over to Ansel. He skimmed through the reports from the team and other necessary documents until he found the profile on Doyle. For the next hour, Penelope watched him combine the profiles and when he was finished, begin reading the reports. After another hour passed he sat up straighter and Penelope knew he had found something. "What is it?" She asked.

"Jeremy Wolff was Doyle's inside man." He stated quietly. Penelope thought back to the hectic events of that day. She remember Hotch informing her about that.

"Yes, Hotch had me run a search on his financials. He had purchased a large property before he died. We determined that Tsia Mosely wasn't involved. Then Hotch spoke to . . ." She gasped when she stopped talking.

Ansel looked at her suspiciously. "What is it?"

Penelope gulped before revealing the information. "Hotch spoke to Clyde Easter and asked him if he suspected Jeremy."

Ansel was furious. This meant that Harrington and Carter had kept information from him. He was just glad that they had a briefing the next day so he could find out the reason why.


	20. Chapter 20

"When were you going to tell me that Jeremy Wolff was feeding Doyle information?" Ansel asked as soon as Harrington, Carter and Easter were sat down at the table. He had spent the whole day unfocused as he attempted to think of a reason that they wouldn't reveal such important information to him.

"We weren't," Carter sneered at him. He felt like he was going to lose control at any moment. He began picking at his nails, a fact that was not lost on Penelope. "It wasn't important."

Ansel sarcastically laughed at her statement. "It wasn't important? What the hell is wrong with you? Everything is important, how else are we going to capture Doyle?" Ansel said to her, his voice getting louder.

"It was my decision. I'm sorry, I should of known that you would find out one way or another." Easter stepped in, seeing the famous Prentiss temper about a make an appearance.

"So what did you find out?" Harrington asked, all business and completely passive towards the situation.

"It would have been a hell of a lot more if you had told us everything!" Ansel yelled at him.

"I don't see how it matters," Carter stated, knowing that her comment would get under his skin.

"You don't see how it matters because you got your diploma from a cereal box!" Ansel yelled at her. He was sick of her questioning everything and even more sick of them keeping information from him. "It matters because it means that there are certain areas that Doyle's men cannot, or should I say, couldn't reach. He had to pay someone off in order to stay ahead. It's likely that he is doing the same thing now." He finished on a calmer note.

Penelope's eyes went wide at Ansel's accusation. He was accusing one of these agents of working with Doyle, of aiding a known terrorist. That meant that Doyle knew about Ansel and furthermore he knew that Ansel knew of Declan's location. Panic began to set in and Penelope immediately became worried. Ansel was in serious danger.

Harrington didn't like the accusation and looked completely unimpressed whilst Easter and Carter looked wide eyed. Ansel knew in that moment who the inside man was. "You're the mole, aren't you?" Ansel asked Harrington.

Harrington's face twisted into an evil smirk and Ansel had his answer. "I must say, I'm impressed." He said revealing an Irish accent. "I didn't think that you would figure it out. Now, this is what's going to happen. You will come with me to see Doyle and then this will all be over."

Penelope's eyes widened even more when he revealed a gun with a silencer on the barrel levelled at her from across the table. "Or Ms Garcia will suffer the same fate as you mother, your choice."

"It's okay . . ." Penelope began before Ansel's reply cut her off.

"I'll go, but she doesn't get hurt." Ansel negotiated. He was the one Doyle wanted, not Penelope.

"Fine, let's go." Harrington commanded as he stood up. Ansel walked around the table and stood in front of Harrington, close enough so that nobody noticed that he was being held at gun point. Tears were freely flowing down Penelope's face as she saw how calm Ansel was. _This can't be happening_, she thought as he and Harrington disappeared out of the door.


	21. Chapter 21

Twenty minutes after abduction. . .

As soon as his eyes opened, they were assaulted by a bright, artificial light. His head was throbbing painfully and his arms felt stiff. He tried to move but couldn't. When he saw a rope tying him to an uncomfortable chair and felt his hands restrained behind him, his memory returned. Harrington was Doyle's inside man. He couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out sooner. _Maybe if I had I wouldn't be in this situation_, he thought.

He heard screaming coming from . . . somewhere. He gulped and tried to calm his breathing and focus on where he was. He could feel something crusty on the back of his neck. He obviously couldn't see but guessed that it was dried blood from where Harrington had hit him with the bud of his gun, knocking Ansel unconscious so Harrington could stuff him into the trunk of his car. He tried to ignore the sharp pain in his head long enough to figure out where he was. The floor was hard and the walls looked to be made of brick of similar material. _Concrete_, he guessed knowing that it could very well be the answer, _so _I'm_ in a basement?_

Suddenly, a loud creaking noise could be heard and the sound of metal grinding against concrete filled his ears. This only irritated the pain in his head even further to the point where he wanted to scream in pain. Footsteps echoed throughout the room and then stopped behind him. He almost jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Another hand then grabbed a hand full of his hair and pulled his head back. Piercing blue eyes examined him, curiosity shining through.

Doyle let his prisoner's hair go and purposely pushed his head forward. "Lauren never told me that she had a child," Doyle said in French. Ansel's breathing began to increase slightly at the mention of his mother's alias.

"That's because Lauren Reynolds didn't have a child, Emily Prentiss did." Ansel said, making an effort to keep the fear out of his voice. He wasn't scared of Doyle; he was scared of what Doyle would say about his mother in order to extract the information from Ansel.

"Where's my boy?" He asked in English this time with a thick Irish accent. He wasn't playing games anymore and Ansel knew it. He wanted an answer and Ansel wasn't planning on giving it to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ansel responded, deciding that playing dumb was his best option no matter what the consequences were. "My mother never told me anything."

Doyle chuckled loudly. "You certainly are Lauren's son, aren't you?" Ansel heard Doyle walk behind him before he felt an arm wrap around his neck, effectively cutting off his oxygen supply. He stayed that for thirty seconds, what felt like a life time to Ansel, before letting go. Ansel began gasping, trying to get as much oxygen as possible. Doyle walked back around and punched him below his left eye. "Where's Declan?" He asked again.

Ansel remained silent and Doyle delivered a few more punches to his face before he asked again. Ansel looked at him and spat bloody saliva at Doyle's feet before rasping out, "Go to hell." Doyle his head and chuckled at the defiant teenager as he walked out. This was going to be interesting.


	22. Chapter 22

One hour after abduction . . .

BAU team and JJ sat at the round table listening to Penelope explaining everything to them without so much as taking a breath. They were surprised and impressed to hear that Ansel had put everything together but it was overtaken by worry and determination. Penelope told Hotch Declan's location and sent Seaver to go and pick him up. The rest of them set to work, trying to narrow down Ansel's location. The minute that Penelope had called Hotch to tell him that Ansel had been taken, Hotch made sure that there were roadblocks set up. Spencer began a geographic profile and listed all of the buildings and properties that were in the area.

"He would have had to take him somewhere where he could have privacy." Spencer told Penelope as her fingers flew across the keyboard. "Look for abandoned buildings that aren't in the immediate area of other buildings."

Penelope shook her head as she read through the information on her screen. "That's no good, they're all in close proximity to something, whether it's another building or a busy street." She relayed in a panicky voice.

"Try abandoned buildings with basements, Garcia." Hotch suggested in a soft, calm voice trying to get the quirky analyst to calm down and focus.

"We have it narrowed down to twelve buildings in that area that have basements but only two are abandoned." She said triumphantly. "The addresses have been sent to your phones." They began to file out with Hotch on the phone telling local police and SWAT to go to the two locations quietly and wait for them.

"Morgan," Penelope called after the dark agent who was the last to leave. He turned around and looked at her. "Please bring him back alive."

Morgan nodded at her, "We will." He promised before turning around to catch up with the others and Penelope was left alone to sit and worry about her family again.

Reid and Rossi entered the building that they were told to go to with their weapons drawn and local police and SWAT following them in cautiously. Once they had cleared the first floor, they split up with Reid taking the basement and Rossi the second level. They were both slightly disappointed and relieved when they found no trace that anyone had been in the building for quite a while. Rossi called it in to Hotch and they got back in their SUV to go to the other building.

Hotch, JJ and Morgan decided that to split into two groups. JJ and Hotch's team would go directly to the basement whilst Derek's team would clear the ground floor and make sure that escaped. They silently made their way down the stairs, holding their weapons steady. They looked at each other when they came to a corridor that went in two different directions. With a look and a nod of their heads, they decided to split up with Hotch going left and JJ going right.

Hotch waited by the side of a large metal door for SWAT to catch up before he yanked the door opened, immediately regretting causing the loud, echoing sound. He walked into the large, poorly illuminated room with his weapon drawn and firmly in his grasp. He noticed the unmoving body on the ground and became concerned. He cautiously moved towards it and was more than relieved when he saw that it wasn't Ansel. He checked the pulse, finding none, and used his radio to alert JJ that he was on his way and Doyle was on her side. That's when loud gunshots echoed throughout the basement and Hotch ran out of the room.


	23. Chapter 23

JJ walked down the concrete corridor slowly closely followed by five SWAT members. Her adrenaline was up and she was more than determined to get Ansel back safe and sound. She began to pick up her pace when she heard a loud scream coming from the room at the end of the corridor that had a large metal door as its only entry point. She counted off to the SWAT members before she opened the door. Doyle watched with wild eyes as they entered and he pulled Ansel up in front of him and held a gun to the teenager's head as he back himself p against the wall.

"It's over Doyle," JJ said, using all her will power to keep her voice even as she took in the sight of Ansel. His eye, that was now swollen shut, had a large gash underneath it that was bleeding, as well as dried blood that had come from his nose. He was bleeding from what looked like stab wounds on his shoulder, palm and thigh. His clothes were covered in dirt and blood, some of it dried and some of it fresh. He was gasping for air and was barely standing. "Put the gun down."

"I want to see my boy," Doyle demanded as he pressed the gun against Ansel's temple a little harder.

JJ looked him in the eyes and knew that her negotiation skills weren't going to be enough this time. "You can see Declan if you put the gun down and let him go." She stated flatly, showing no emotion.

Ansel cracked his good eye open and registered JJ standing with her weapon trained on Doyle. He knew that JJ had to get him out of here soon or he would die. "Don't you want to see Declan?" Ansel rasped out in French through jagged, exhausted breaths. Doyle tightened his grip on Ansel and he screamed out in pain again. Doyle had undoubtedly broken more than a few bones during the beating he had given him and the added pressure wasn't helping.

"If I go, you go," Doyle said to JJ as he began to lift his hand that held the gun in her direction. Ansel used all of his remaining strength to grab his hand and point it at himself. He squeezed Doyle's finger and a loud gunshot echoed through the room as Ansel and Doyle fell to the floor. SWAT moved in on Doyle and JJ rushed over to Ansel. She used her radio to call for a medic before she began applying pressure with one of her hands to the fresh gunshot wound that had torn through his abdomen and held his blood soaked hand with the other.

"You . . . have to . . . let me go," He gasped out and JJ was amazed that he had said the exact same words to her that Emily had said to Derek.

"No, you're going to be fine." JJ said softly to him as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I just need you to stay awake, okay. Can you do that?"

Ansel weakly nodded his head as JJ was ushered out of the way by the paramedics. They began to work on him but were alarmed when they lost his heartbeat.


	24. Chapter 24

The first thing Ansel heard was an annoying yet constant beeping noise. It was irritating and only added to the massive headache he was trying to keep at bay. He opened his eyes a tiny bit to have one eyes blinded by a bright light and the other to stay in complete darkness. He groaned softly at the light and moved his hand over his eye to block out the light wile it adjusted. He felt his other hand holding onto something, someone else's hand. Then, it all came back to him. He had shot himself so Doyle wouldn't hurt JJ.

He was soon snapped out of his daze by a loud gasp. "You're awake," A soft, familiar voice said softly. "Here, drink this."

Penelope held a straw to his lips that was in a disposable, plastic cup that was filled halfway with water. He took a few slow sips as the cool water trickled down his dry throat, soothing the scratchy feeling. "How long have I been here?" He rasped out trying to move but stopped when he felt sharps pains throughout his protesting body.

"Three days," Penelope said softly, placing the water back on the bedside table and stroking his dark hair the best she could whilst he had a bandaged wrapped around his forehead and eye. "You had us really worried."

Ansel knew where this conversation was going and he didn't like the fact that she had been thinking that way. She shouldn't have to worry about whether or not the fifteen year old that she was responsible for would live or die. "Did the doctor tell you what my injuries were?" He asked.

Penelope got up and picked up the chart that was sitting on a table at the end of his bed. She opened it and read through it carefully before relaying the information to Ansel. "External injuries include several cuts that required stitches and severe bruising on your face, abdomen and around your neck. Three stab wounds that luckily didn't hit anything important and a close range gunshot wound that missed your heart by three centimetres," She said softly. "Internal injuries include major internal bleeding, a burst appendix, and several broken ribs one of which punctured your right lung, a shattered wrist, broken femur and several broken fingers. You also had minor swelling in your brain."

Ansel was surprised that he hadn't sustained any more serious injuries; in fact he was surprised to be alive. He remembered back to when he was lying on the cold, hard concrete floor. He had let go, given up and didn't expect to come back. He tried to move his left arm but felt a lot of weight keeping it down. He turned his head so that he could see. From his elbow to his fingers were covered in a white cast and he knew that it was that arm that had taken the most damage. Penelope put the chart back where she had found it and sat back down in the chair reflecting on Ansel's injuries, not realising that several tears had fallen down her cheeks. Ansel turned his head and watched the emotions play out on her face and he instantly felt guilty. "I'm sorry," He whispered to her.

Penelope just smiled back at him and took his hand in hers, happy that he was now safe from Doyle and most of the dangers that she saw on a daily basis.


	25. Chapter 25

Three months later, Ansel sat on the bench near his mother's gravestone thinking. He had accomplished what his mother had sacrificed her life to accomplish and he could only hope that she would have been proud of him, if not angry that he had done something so reckless and dangerous. The team had visited him multiple times during the two weeks that he was in the hospital and Penelope barely left his side. One member of the team convinced her every second day to go home a get a good night's sleep and that member would stay with him that night. Ansel had apologised to every member of the team personally for not trusting them and they, in turn, forgave him.

He had stopped shutting people out and was slowly learning to talk about things. Derek was his go to for advice on girls, when it was rarely required. He would go to Spencer when he was having trouble figuring out problems and to play a decent game of chess. Rossi had begun teaching him how to cook different Italian foods and while they did so Ansel would ask questions about Rossi's older cases, as he was interested in the older man's accomplishments. He would speak to Hotch when he needed advice on a serious matter, such as school problems at school. JJ was the only person besides Penelope that he felt comfortable talking about his feelings with and, in a way, she was his therapist. Penelope had become somewhat of a second mother to him. Their relationship had developed over the course of the last two weeks, like his relationship with everyone had grown stronger.

He had asked Penelope to stop there before they went to Rossi's where he and Rossi were going to cook dinner for everyone. He couldn't help but be overwhelmed with grief every now and then and this was one of those times. So when it happened he would go "see" his mother and then talk with JJ afterwards. He felt guilty talking about his feelings when anyone else, as they were all still grieving, but JJ had made it perfectly clear that he would talk to her whenever it was necessary, even if she was on a case. In fact, she was the only person other than himself that knew what Doyle had done to him.

Ansel couldn't help but wonder if Emily had had the same relationships with her colleagues and friends that he did now. Of course, he would never inquire about it but he still sometimes wondered. He wondered whether or not the team saw Emily when they looked at him, whether or not they were making an effort because they felt obligated and it was a constant internal battle for Ansel.

He had spoken with his grandmother several times via phone calls and Skype and she had agreed to meet with him when she was back in town. After all, Emily had always told him that if she had another chance to reconcile her relationship with her mother she would. So Ansel thought that he would at least make an effort to get to know her a little better for his mother. He checked his watch and saw that he had been sitting there for twenty minutes and felt guilty for making Penelope wait for him that long. He got up and made his back to the car where he found Penelope reading something off of her phone as she sat with the air conditioning on full blast. He got in via the passenger door and waited patiently a few minutes as she finished reading whatever she was reading. She put her phone away when she was finished and started the car back up. "You okay?" She asked with a soft, enthusiastic smile that Ansel couldn't help but smile back.

"Perfect," He replied as they began the drive to Rossi's.

**So this is the end of the road. Thank you to everyone who followed and reviewed this story. I'm pretty certain that there will not be a sequel to this story however I am thinking about writing another story which will happen . . . whenever I get a decent idea that I can make work. Please PM me if you have any ideas. I am also thinking about having a Beta for any other stories because two brains are better than one, so if anyone is interested PM as well. Well that's it from me for the time being. Thanks for reading!**


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